Philippine fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. further expanded its business in mainland China with the completion of its purchase of a 55-per cent interest in a company operating San Pin Wang, a chain of 34 restaurants selling low-priced beef noodles.

JFC, through wholly owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL), signed in 2010 an agreement with Guangxi Zong Kai Food and Beverage Investment Co. Ltd. (GZK) to acquire a majority stake in San Pin Wang.

This is JFC's third fast-food chain in China.

The Philippine fast-food group will spend RMB30 million ($4.75 million) to acquire the 55-percent stake from Guanxi, which will remain a strategic partner with a 45-percent interest. JWPL and Guanxi have committed to invest additional 20 million yuan ($3.16 million) in San Pin Wang to fuel its expansion.

San Pin Wang is a noodle fast-food chain with most of its restaurants located in Nanning City in Guang Xi Province in South China.

The two other restaurant businesses operated by JFC in China are Shanghai-based Yonghe King and Beijing-based Hong Zhuang Yuan, which were bought in 2004 and 2008, respectively. As of January this year, the two overseas businesses had a combined network of 319 stores in China accounting for 11 per cent of JFC's worldwide sales.

JFC also has a 70 per cent interest in Jollibee Foods Processing Pte. Ltd., a commissary in Shucheng, Anhui Province.

JFC currently operates 2,466 stores worldwide, of which 1,997 are in the Philippines. The brands in its portfolio are Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal and Burger King.

In January, Jollibee through JWPL has consummated a deal to buy into a regional food group that operates a chain of restaurants across Asia. The group acquired 50 per cent of the business of SuperFoods Group, consisting of a 49-per cent stake in Viet Nam-based SF Vung Tau Joint Stock Co. and a 60-per cent share in Hong Kong-based Blue Sky Holding Ltd.

The SuperFoods group, which has $30 million in annual sales, operates 56 Highlands Coffee stores in Viet Nam. Its Pho24 chain of Vietnamese restaurants has 48 stores in Viet Nam, 11 in Indonesia, four in Hong Kong, three in Japan, one in Cambodia and two in the Philippines. It likewise has Hard Rock Cafe-franchised stores in Macau, Hong Kong and Viet Nam. (PDI)

The eyes of major foreign investors in garment production are directed to the Philippines as the cost of production in China is getting expensive including the cost of labor.

Gregory Domingo, the Philippines' Trade Secretary under the PNoy Aquino administration reveals that major garment firms are considering the relocation of their operation to the Philippines from China.

Domingo did not disclose the identity of the firms but he said that a big garment firm who moved from the Philippines is returning back to the country. This is a great news for the Philippine economy and hope that these fortunes coming to the Philippines will be sustainable.

The Philippines is known to be a country with one of the largest reserves of minerals in the world. The Aquino administration is seemingly feeling the pressure of campaigns to totally knock out mining in the country.

To date, Aquino administration wants the Philippine government to get it's fair share from the mining sector amounting to more then a trillion pesos.

"The goal of President Aquino is to make doing business in the Philippines more efficient, easier for businessmen, in particular those who are not as familiar as local businessmen," finance secretary Cesar Purisima said in a news briefing in the Malacañang presidentail palace.

 

Purisima said that the mining industry in the country can accelerate the growth of the economy. "Unfortunately in the past, the way the laws were implemented, it was not a true win-win situation where the government actually was not able to get its fair share from mining activities," Purisima said.

The finance secretary said total tax collection from the mining industry amounted to only a little over 2 billion pesos (US$46.8 million) while the country's total revenue was over 1.2 trillion pesos ($28.1 billion).

"So when you look at that and, at the same time, the impact to the communities that host it and the environment adjacent to it, you really have to ask yourself whether the way we're implementing it is what we describe as a responsible way of harnessing the wealth of the country," Purisima said.

"We are looking at various models, alternatives in the hope that this can be done so that all the interests of the different sectors are addressed," he added.